Bluetooth volume on headphones

Question

Hi, I am using a surface go with Win 11. When connected over blue tooth to my phillips noice cancelling headphones with tablet in flight mode I have virtually no volume (can't hear)when travelling on plane. When i go home to test still with flight mode on I have no problems. Max volume is way to high.???

Geoff

Answer 1

Hi Geoff and Hortense Ingram,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community.

I would like to confirm first regarding with the model of your Surface. Is it a Surface Go, Surface Go 2 or Surface Go 3? To confirm, you may enter the serial number here: Check Warranty Page - ROBO SelfServe Portal (surface.com).

Regarding with the concern, how about the external speaker or using a wired headphones, do you still do not get any sound from the device? Please note that Airplane mode/Flight mode is a way for us to quickly turn off all wireless communications on the device including Bluetooth and does your Bluetooth headphones will stop working when Airplane mode is turned on. See: Turn airplane mode on or off (microsoft.com).

Kind regards,

Marrion

Answer 2

Hi Marion, Tablet surface go 2. Speakers in system work fine. I do get extremely low volume , almost impossible to hear and impossible to watch movie, when using flight mode on plane. When i got home I tried flight mode on with same movie and was able to hear it very clearly. Many other people on plane were using non wired headphones with phones and tablets. I worked in IT for 20 years. Do my own installations including reformating and starting again so am not total novice. I have tried every every setting I can think of to no avail.

Geoff

Answer 3

Hello Geoff and Hortense Ingram,

When connected to your Bluetooth headset, have you tried setting it as an output audio device default? If not, please try going to Settings > System > Sound. Or, right-click the speaker icon on the taskbar and select Sound Settings.

In Sound settings, locate the “Output” section and click the arrow beside the audio output device (your Bluetooth device). On the Properties page, select the drop-down near "Set as default sound device" to Use as default for audio or Use as default for communications.

Answer 4

Hi Geoff and Hortense Ingram,

We have noticed that you haven’t replied to our last response yet. We would like to know if you still need some assistance on the concern raised. How is the device doing now and were you able to run the steps suggested?

Hope to hear from you.

Kind regards,

Marrion

Answer 5

Hi Geoff and Hortense Ingram,

Thank you for the response. It is weird that the issue seems to occur only while you were on the plane since it works fine when you were at home already. I understand also that this would be difficult to test if the issue persist since it would mean testing it again while on a plane but kindly try running these steps first on the Surface Go 2:

1: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit

See: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit (microsoft.com)

2: Check for Windows Update

Go to Windows Settings > Update & Security and select Check for updates

Make sure all updates need are installed including Optional updates

3: Update drivers and firmware

Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About. 

Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Go

Then click the link next to Surface Go 2 then click Download on the next page.

Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart. 

4: Run System File Checker Tool

See: Using System File Checker in Windows (microsoft.com)

The next time you will be on a plane then experience the issue again, kindly try turning off and on the Bluetooth setting of the device while Airplane mode is on. Please check also what is the current Driver version of the Intel(R) Wireless Bluetooth(R) driver installed in Device Manager and share it with us here.

Kind regards,

Marrion